Record Reviews: Cry Tomorrow

These reviews
are of the original version of Cry Tomorrow, on its first
release in 1992. The CD was reworked, remastered and
rereleased in 1999.

Music
Express Magazine
August 1992

THE REDS: Cry TomorrowTarock Music

Three out of four serial killers name The Reds as their favorite band. Actually, I just made that up, but it's not beyond the realm of possibility. After all, director Michael Mann hired them to score Manhunter, the chilling prequel to Silence Of The Lambs, as well as using their music in Band Of The Hand and episodes of Miami Vice.
This Philadelphia duo certainly won't get confused
with Hall & Oates,
for they deal in a menacingly modern sound worthy of
far greater exposure. Since 1979, singer/guitarist Rick
Shaffer and keyboardist Bruce Cohen have recorded four
albums for four different labels, and Cry Tomorrow appears on indie alternative label Tarock Music (PO Box 441, Village Station, NY 10014).

The Reds
have an immediately identifiable sound via the combination of droning
keyboards and guitar and Shaffer's haunting monotone vocals, and
they come up with hooks that creep insidiously into the brain. Female
backing vocals are used liberally to further push the sounds home,
and producer Mike Thorne (Wire, Soft Cell, Peter Murphy) keeps it
all as clean and sharp as a new scalpel. Those raised on the sonic
bludgeoning of industrial and metal styles will likely find this
a little too understated, but that's their loss. The cover of the
Rolling Stones classic Gimme Shelter is a logical one, but
the song's familiarity robs it of some potency. Standout cuts include TerrorIn My Heart, Cry Tomorrow and
the sinister Waiting For You. Cry Tomorrow remains
Better Dread From Reds.
*** 1/2

-
Kerry Doole

THE REDS: Cry TomorrowTarock Music

Colder-sounding than they were at the end of the '70s, this band still emits the same edgy desperation, thanks to Rick Shaffer's Jaggeresque vocals (there's an updated Gimme Shelter here
to drive home the similarity). Ace producer Mike Thorne
(Wire) adds the icy sheen he helped popularize in the
early '80s, but never lets the synths gloss over Shaffer's switchblade
guitar obligatos.

-
Steve Holtje

Rolling Stone

On The Edge
By David Fricke

·.
The Reds inhabit an inviting, ice blue quadrant of the postpunk cosmos
on Cry Tomorrow (Tarock
Music, CD), somewhere near the terse rhythmic tug of
Wire, New Order's frosty electro-glaze and the artgarage menace of
the early Psychedelic Furs. Especially
beguiling is Waiting For You, a brooding beauty cut from the same hair-shirt cloth as The Idiot by
Iggy Pop ·

Strange
thing, a duet who after one album on A&M, two independent
albums and another on Sire, leap into a brand new company,
Tarock Music (this is the company's first release). The
Reds consist of Bruce Cohen (keyboards), and Rick Shaffer
(guitar), who both hail from Philadelphia, and if you were a fanatic
follower of Miami Vice you
might remember their names from the music credits from
a number of episodes. This fifth album depicts the 'dark side
of things,' a portrayal with serious undertones, painting
an often frightening picture. The duet succumbs to an egocentric discovery
in these pieces. Shaffer's voice is other worldly several times, as
other worldly as the album. There is a similarity here to Gimme Shelter, but I don't know, something frightens me, yet attracts me at the same time. The producer is Mike Thorne (Soft Cell, Wire, Peter Murphy, Blur).

Philadelphia City Paper
ROCK

The Reds put out a new CD
By Frank Blank

Howdy folks!
One of the longest lasting collaborations in Philadelphia
music is that of Rick Shaffer and Bruce Cohen, collectively
known as The Reds. Their self-titled LP on A&M Records
was an assertive statement that fit in perfectly with the
era in which it was recorded. From that beginning, Cohen and
Shaffer continued to record for albums and numerous films
and TV projects, among them are contributions to the television
show Miami Vice and the creation of the soundtrack for the film Manhunter.

Much like XTC, The Reds are much more of studio creation, in that the band does not perform live. CryTomorrow, the new CD by The Reds on Tarock Music, is the first output from the band in quite some time. Reunited with producer Mike Thorne (Blur, Soft Cell, Peter Murphy), Shaffer and Cohen have crafted a disc that fuses the power of their earlier work with the development of their soundtrack work.

Cohen's
keyboards are the most promising voice in The Red's instrumental
sound, with Shaffer's guitar generally providing the momentum. The
atmosphere runs from moody to aggressive, with particular standouts being
the title track and a lurching cover if Gimme Shelter.

Some
of The Reds' material brings to mind the approach of the
influential British band Killing Joke.